Touch-screen interface for on-the-fly News and Sports

Tuesday, 05 April 2011 15:02

At NAB 2011, Mosart Medialab will introduce version 3.0 of its newscast automation system. Mosart v3.0 debuts a new graphical user interface allowing users to create operating environments tailored to several production requirements or house styles.

With its flexible on-screen display of elements needed during live broadcasting, Mosart v3.0 further extends Mosart’s capability for ad-hoc operation. Users can assemble combinations of production elements into  a collection of on-display buttons with touch-screen operation, for on-the-fly response while on-air. In this way, Mosart v3.0 combines the high-level control of every gallery device and efficient random-based automation for ad-hoc live operation.

“It is often thought that using an automation system ties you to scheduled operation, without the ability to react instantly to events,” said John Kjellevold, Managing Director, Mosart Medialab. “We built Mosart from the ground up to be flexible in operation. Now, we have embodied that flexibility in a touch-screen interface that directors can use if they want to diverge from the scheduled rundown.”

With Mosart v3.0’s virtual shot-box users can assign  elements from stories to an on-screen button, and instantly recall elements by touch to the studio’s preview or program monitors. Elements can include technical events such as a clip, lower thirds and other graphics, and DVEs. The combination of buttons and elements can be created in the virtual shot-box, allowing the freedom to assemble assets for instant, ad-hoc use. Drag-and-drop functionality enables instant assignment of elements to shot-box buttons, and to help rapid reaction during breaking events, multiple clients can be configured to allow a team of production assistants to select and assign elements to appear on the director’s on-screen shot-box.

For speedy location of elements, users can use Mosart’s new search window to find assets on connected playout servers, and drag them directly to the timeline, to a shot-box button, or to v3.0’s new Pool window.

The pool is another feature of Mosart v3.0 designed to extend flexible operation even further. The pool allows users to select a scheduled story to see a list of all technical assets such as clips and graphics, and assign assets to a global pool of elements for random access re-use. The pool makes it easy for news and sports production teams to assemble collections of key events that may be required for repeated use at any time, such as record-breaking performances at Olympic Games, or crucial sound-bites in a developing political crisis.

Also making its first appearance in v3.0, the script view presents the current story and the next, (or any selected) story of the rundown, complete with technical information and the entire script.

Mosart v3.0‘s customizable screen environment allows users to dedicate a screen to the shot-box display, or to arrange configurations of shot-box buttons, search window, script view, timeline and counter displays together on the same screen. Screen configurations can be saved as individual user logins or as for standardized working environments.

Mosart version 3.0 also features enhanced handling of macros, sequences, loops, graphical and event continue points: Mosart's sequences tool enables separate parallel rundowns that can be executed for example on a studio back wall. Macros and continue points simplify automation setup, allowing the director to program once, but then proceed through multiple events or effects.  Looping can in v3.0 be applied to rundowns, segments, sequences and clips.